Justin Morgan DID have a horse. And it was a beauty. One of the quintesenntially American breeds, the Morgan horse sprang from the loins of a stallion named Figure, a.k.a. Justin Morgan(‘s) Horse. And that was not the only Spring that Sprung, as anything that trots or drives in North America probably can thank Mr. Morgan, piano teacher and blacksmith on-the-side for participating in the cancellation of debt through livestock trading, leading to a subsequent horse breeding career (for Figure, not Justin, mind you). Standardbred, American Quarter Horse, and Tennessee Walking Horses have all been influenced by Figure, not to mention the Hackney in jolly old England. This little horse was cleanly-built muscle, but could pull all day and still not seem tired. Logging? Check. Racing? Check. Trotting? Check. And boy, did those genes carry forward, for both temperament and looks.
Today is Part 2 of the Morgan Horse Story. Well, Part 2 of what we now know might be 427 parts, but we’ll save those for future podcasts. We won’t go down the lineage rabbit hole today, but will take a few minutes to talk about one line: The Government Morgan. We visited the historic barn at the UVM Morgan Horse Farm in Weybridge, Vermont, where we spoke with Sarah Fauver and Kimberly Demars about the goals of a Morgan Horse breeding program. We also stood and admired the absolutely gorgeous Willoughby, in the stall and in the ring. He patiently took time away from his busy beauty pageant and stud schedule just to meet with us (or we’d like to think so). Just like a Morgan Horse – a cheerful disposition, no matter what kind of work he has to do.
Links:
https://www.uvm.edu/cals/morganhorsefarm/staff
https://www.uvm.edu/cals/news/breed-apart
https://www.uvm.edu/cals/news/historic-uvm-morgan-horse-farm-announces-new-leadership-and-new-opportunities
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6690/justin_morgan
http://afs.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/morgan/index.html/
https://www.storey.com/
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/morgan
https://www.uvm.edu/cals/morganhorsefarm/history